Fat Berg in the Communal Drain system.....

pinklady21

Hello everyone
Wondering if anyone has had a similar issue and how they dealt with it.
I own and let out a flat in a former Council owned block of flats. There are 5 flats that share a communal drainage stack, with pipe branches coming in from each flat for the toilets, sinks, baths etc.
My flat is number 2 from the bottom. The bottom flat under mine is privately owned, then mine above, then two council tenants above that, and an owned flat on the top.
Not sure if the other owned flats are also tenanted or not.

My tenant recently reported a problem with her kitchen sink not draining and that the flat beneath also had a similar problem.
So - I got a drainage contractor to go out and clear the blockage. This has been done - at my expense.

The problem was a build up of fat in the drain. My suspicion is that there is someone who thinks that the kitchen sink is where the used oil from the deep fat fryer goes......
Difficult to know which flat is responsible.

Seems like I have a few options of what to do next to try and avoid any recurrence:

1. Do nothing and accept that every now and again I have to pay £150 to get the drain cleared.

2. Write to each of the other owners, explain the issue, and probable cause. Ask for their share of the cost, and politely remind them that fat should be disposed of safely in a sealed container in the general waste, not down the communal drain.

3. Get a camera investigation done of the pipe stack and drainage system, which may help pinpoint which flat is throwing the fat down the drain. Send this evidence to the owner of the flat and ask them to cease and desist. (Which could of course result in even more debris being chucked down there.....!)

Interested to hear if anyone else has experience of this sort of thing and how you dealt with it.
Thank you!

Cakeguts

It is your tenant who is putting fat down the drain. Her sink was blocked and not draining properly. She said the flat underneath had the same problem but if drain is not draining properly they should all have had the same problem all the way up the building but as far as you know they didn't so the fat had to be coming from your tenant.

moneyistooshorttomention

Personally - I'd go the camera route if it's going to establish exactly who the culprit is.

Whoever they are = if they've done it before = they'll do it again in all probability.

Cheaper to pay the camera at the outset and establish just who to send this bill to - be it your tenant or some other person in the building.

pinklady21

Thanks for the replies - my tenant is pretty fastidious, and is clear that she keeps a grill over the sink plughole so that nothing goes down the drain that shouldn't. She has been there for 18 months plus, and I am inclined to believe her.
It could have been the previous tenant, but surely the problem would have become apparent before now?
The drainage company that came out and jetted the drain remarked that the fat is so sticky that once it adheres to the side of the pipe that encourages more to stick and so on.
It is perfectly possible that the fat is coming from a flat above, and this has adhered at various points within the stack.
The camera footage would help identify where the fat is most likely to be coming from.

G_M

If the problem is your flat's ubend or branch dran, then your tenant is the problem (see cakeguts above), in which case

* letter tto tenant explaining the issue, and giving advice on what to put down the rain - and what not.
* either claim back the bill, or, perhpas better, tell tenant that on this occassion you'll waive the bill, but not in ffuture

If the problem is the stack, why are you getting involved? It is for the freeholder, or management company, (council in your case) to fix communal drains (and charge leaseholders).

xylophone

that she keeps a grill over the sink plughole

Perhaps this is the source of the problem?:)

Jesting aside, liquid fat could pass through a grille?

00ec25

as GM above, you mention 5 flats and a communal system, so why is the building management not dealing with the "communal" problem

G_M

pinklady21 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - my tenant is pretty fastidious, and is clear that she keeps a grill over the sink plughole so that nothing goes down the drain that shouldn't.
.......
It is perfectly possible that the fat is coming from a flat above, and this has adhered at various points within the stack.

:rotfl: A 'grill' or sieve over the plughole will not stop fat (especially hot or warm fat) from going down the drain. It will only stop lumps eg food waste. Warm fat will still pass through ad as it cools will solidify on the sides of the drain.

The answer is to wipe congealed fat off saucepans, plates etc with kitchen towel before washing, and to pour liquid fat (eg from a fat fryer) into a container to dispose off properly (NOT down the loo!)

If the fat comes from upstairs, yes, it could congeal lower down, but more likely to do so near the flat in question causing problems higher up. And it's the freeholder who should resolve.

pinklady21

Thanks GM - we are in Scotland so no freeholder. The drain is owned communally among the 5 owners of the flats.
When a drain has blocked in the past, (and in less straitened times for LAs), the Council would take it on and fix it. Now they refuse to do anything unless one of their tenants is directly affected - and as their tenants are further up the block, they are less likely to be affected and they won't play.
I can however claim back two fifths of the cost of clearing it from the council as they own two out of 5 of the flats.
It would be good to find out where the problem really is - the Council do not tend to manage their tenants' behaviour very well - frequent issues with blocking the rubbish chute with pizza boxes and items too large to fit down there....... excessive noise from above....... and problems with fat bergs previously.
If I had sufficient camera evidence that this is their tenant who is causing the problem, then they might be provoked into doing something about it.
I would of course have to pay for the camera investigation - minimum cost £70 plus VAT per hour - if it points to my tenant, then I suck it up (not literally) and remind her not to chuck fat down the drain.
If not, I then have to try and get that cost refunded from the owner who is responsible and persuade them to dispose of their cooking fat more responsibly, even if they are not affected. Could be tricky......

Cakeguts

pinklady21 wrote: »

Thanks GM - we are in Scotland so no freeholder. The drain is owned communally among the 5 owners of the flats.
When a drain has blocked in the past, (and in less straitened times for LAs), the Council would take it on and fix it. Now they refuse to do anything unless one of their tenants is directly affected - and as their tenants are further up the block, they are less likely to be affected and they won't play.
I can however claim back two fifths of the cost of clearing it from the council as they own two out of 5 of the flats.
It would be good to find out where the problem really is - the Council do not tend to manage their tenants' behaviour very well - frequent issues with blocking the rubbish chute with pizza boxes and items too large to fit down there....... excessive noise from above....... and problems with fat bergs previously.
If I had sufficient camera evidence that this is their tenant who is causing the problem, then they might be provoked into doing something about it.
I would of course have to pay for the camera investigation - minimum cost £70 plus VAT per hour - if it points to my tenant, then I suck it up (not literally) and remind her not to chuck fat down the drain.
If not, I then have to try and get that cost refunded from the owner who is responsible and persuade them to dispose of their cooking fat more responsibly, even if they are not affected. Could be tricky......

The council tenants in the block whose behaviour is not what you would like are why ex council flats tend to be cheaper than non ex council flats.

pinklady21

Indeed, but if it were my tenant causing similar anti social issues, I have no doubt the Council would serve me with an ASBO! In many ways, a pity they don't apply the same principle to their own tenants.